Still I love you….

by Nalini Srivastava

It is so hot and sweaty,
Not a cool moment to relax.
For months this heat will last,
No time to have fun out in the sun.
Still I love the sunshine in smile of natives here,
Even strangers flash their pearly whites at you.
The drivers guide you in finding the locales
Shopkeepers treat you with respect.
Best comfort comes with the common folk
Who do not forget the little courtesies.
May be they are uncouth,
But only in worldly appearances,
They are the first ones to extend
Rough, messy but gentle comforting hands.
I love you my home land,
I am a proud connatural Lucknowite.

Nonconformist

by Nalini Srivastava

Yes, I am a dare devil,
I am daring, rightly as you said.
I wasn’t always so,
And I wonder how I could ever be the shy, silent sort.
I enjoy freaking out at the wrong doers,
I am a rebel by the soul.
I enjoy breaking the traditions
And yet I am a traditional being at heart.
I am two women in one I feel,
One the goody goody type,
Other the bad girl who just wants fun.
I am a super mom, who enjoy facing the odds,
And I am the daughter who loves to be pampered.
I am the spouse who likes to dominate there
And yet I like being the submissive one too,
I love to assert my freedom,
And yet I love the chains of love.
I am the eternal wanderer
And yet I am fully domesticated too.
I am the sentimental dreamer in my heart
And yet I deal life practically often.
Given a choice to be the one I like better,
I would again choose this ambiguous persona
I love to be the known one
I prefer being the enigma too.